gran vocal ex - Fat Mattress'Neil Landon & The Burnettes' were formed in Folkestone / Kent (England) in 1962 by a handful of young musicians who had already gained experience in other bands. On bass was Jim Leverton of the 'Big Beats' from nearby Dover. On guitar: Noel Redding, ex-'Lonely Ones'. The 'Cheetas' contributed Neil Landon (born July 26, 1941), who had worked as a ship's carpenter. Percussionist was Pete Kircher, who would join 'Status Quo' at the start of the Eighties. The name of the keyboarder has been lost in the mists of time. To move with the times, the group moved to London. From London, they went on to Germany. Like so many British bands, 'Neil Landon & The Burnettes' acquired considerable musical refinement in the course of engagements lasting weeks and even months in Frankfurt, Duisburg and Cologne clubs, but they made no recordings. The band split up in 1965.
Back in London, Neil Landon got to know the songwriting/producing team of John Carter and Ken Lewis. They were responsible for the singles 'Waiting Here For Someone' / 'I've Got Nothing To Lose' (Decca F 12330) and 'I'm Your Puppet' / 'I Still Love You' (Decca F 12451). These numbers brought Neil Landon several television appearances; but the big breakthrough still eluded him.
Convinced of Landon's qualities, hit merchants Carter & Lewis enrolled him in the 'Ivy League' they had created. Along with singers Perry Ford and Tony Burrows, Landon toured Europe unflaggingly throughout 1966 and 1967. His backing band till November 1966 was 'The Jaybirds': Alvin Lee (guitar), Chick Churchill (keyboards), Leo Lyons (bass) and Rick Lee (drums), who had already appeared in the Star Club in Hamburg. After leaving the 'Ivy League', they were successful as 'Ten Years After'.
Ivy League Hits: Funny How Love Can Be / Lonely Room Piccadilly 7n 35222 GB 2 / 65 # 8 That's Why I'm Crying / A Girl Like You Piccadilly 7n 35228 GB 4 / 65 # 22 Tossin' And Turnin' / Graduation Day Piccadilly 7n 35251 GB 7 / 65 # 3 Willow Tree / One Day Piccadilly 7n 35326 GB 7 / 66 # 50 In September 1967 the single produced by Carter / Lewis under the artist name 'Flowerpot Men' and entitled 'Let's Go To San Francisco' / 'Let's Go To San Francisco Part 2' (Deram dm 142) made Number 4 in the UK charts. Because the song was recorded by studio musicians, there is no true group of this name. Carter / Lewis summarily 'rented out' the band name to ex-Ivy Leaguer Tony Burrows, who put together a tour ensemble to satisfy the popular demand generated by 'Let's Go To San Francisco'. Burrows was joined by three other singers: Peter Nelson, who could boast Star Club experience with the 'Travellers', Robin Shaw, and - Neil Landon. The backing band comprised drummer Carlo Little (ex-Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages), bassist Nick Simper (ex-Johnny Kidd & The Pirates) and keyboarder John Lord (ex-Artwoods). The 'Flowerpot Men' appeared almost daily, until Lord and Simper departed the band on February 24, 1968, to join 'Roundabout', the group from which 'Deep Purple' was to emerge in 1969.
Neil Landon spent the summer of 1968 with Jimi Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell and his old mate Noel Redding in Spain. Redding had made a career for himself and was now bassist in the immensely successful 'Jimi Hendrix Experience'.
All the same, he longed to be playing guitar again and realizing some of his own ideas. He began writing songs together with Landon. The other former 'Burnettes' were to join Neil as studio musicians on Noel's solo project. Pete Kircher, however, was not available; he was a member of the 'Honeybus' group, who had just chalked up a No. 8 hit with 'I Can't Let Maggie Go'. Luckily, Jim Leverton had progressed from studio jobs for the Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens and many others and landed himself a place in Engelbert Humperdinck's backing band, where he played alongside the young drummer Eric Dillon. Leverton and Dillon now joined their old friends. During sessions at the Olympic Studios they agreed to expand the project into a group: 'Fat Mattress'. The band toured the US as warm-up for the 'Jimi Hendrix Experience'; on their return to England, they found a lucrative record contract awaiting them. In the summer of '69, the group played the Isle of Wight Festival, where Bob Dylan headed the line-up of stars taking part.
The first 'Fat Mattress' album appeared in the autumn. Two numbers on the LP were written by Noel Redding, two more jointly with Neil Landon. He, in turn, had written one song on his own and three more with Jim Leverton. One of these three was released as a single: 'Magic Forest.'
'Fat Mattress' toured the US again in December 1969, this time as the headliners, but after five concerts of a planned 30, they broke off the tour and returned to England. A further album, on which Redding co-wrote only three songs, was released. This time, Neil Landon was involved as author on all tracks. Redding's replacements were keyboarder Mick Weaver and guitarist Steve Hammond. Having failed to find commercial success by the end of 1970, they decided to break up the band, though Noel Redding had returned and a third LP was already half 'in the can'.
Fat Mattress albums: 1969 UK 'Fat Mattress' Polydor 583056 US 'Fat Mattress' ATCO SD 33309 1970 UK 'Fat Mattress 2' Polydor 2383025 US 'Fat Mattress 2' ATCO SD 33-347 D 'Fat Mattress 2' Polydor 2383025 Eric Dillon went to 'Savoy Brown', Steve Hammond turned up with 'The Hill' again and Mick Weaver played for Keef Hartley and Frankie Miller. Jim Leverton went to 'Juicy Lucy' and 'Savoy Brown', played on various discs and toured with Steve Marriott until his death in 1991.
After 'Fat Mattress' split, Neil Landon stayed in the USA and wrote songs, none of which were released.
1972 saw him back in England, where he rehearsed for five months with the group 'Mainhorse Airline'. However, their only appearance was at a Crystal Palace benefit concert in London. Their management was looking after two groups: 'Mainhorse Airline' and 'Supertramp'; their decision to concentrate all their energy and capital on 'Supertramp' meant the end of the road for 'Mainhorse Airline'. Keyboarder Patrick Moraz later worked with 'Yes' and the 'Moody Blues'.
Neil Landon briefly turned his back on show business and ran his own farm. In 1974 he moved to Hamburg, the city his wife came from.
It wasn't long before he had found his place on the 'Hamburg scene'. After singing to acoustic guitar in small clubs, he was soon appearing on the stage of place-to-be 'Onkel Pö', accompanied by the cream of 'scene' musicians. 'Neil Landon & Friends' had arrived.
September 1975 was marked by the release of Landon's first German-recorded album, produced by ex-Rattle Achim Reichel. Studio musicians on the recording were Thiessy Thiers and Jochen Petersen from 'Randy Pie', with 'Augenweide' contributing Frank and Stefan Wulff and Olaf Casalich. The other participants were up on stage with Neil as 'Friends'. Uli Salm normally played with 'Leinemann' and Erich Doll with 'Truck Stop', Hermann Lammers-Meyer was from the 'Emsland Hillbillies' and drummer Curvin Merchant, later with 'Boney M.', was occasionally replaced by Teddy Ibing, also with 'Truck Stop'.
It was not long before the Hamburg 'in' venues 'Logo', 'Fabrik' and of course the legendary 'Onkel Pö' were sold out for Neil Landon's appearances. The 'Friends' were joined by former 'Atlantis' members Alex Conti (guitar) and Adrian Askew (keyboards). By the time the second album was recorded, the fixed line-up of the 'Neil Landon Band' had crystallized out of a fluctuating assortment of 'session musicians'. Alex Conti, now fulltime with 'Lake', was replaced by Bernd Gärtig on guitar, Adrian Askew was at the keyboards, and Uli Salm was on bass. The percussion was manned by Norbert 'Panzer' Lehmann from the Berlin group 'Karthago'. The 'Neil Landon Band' recorded one more LP under the direction of Achim Reichel and continued to play live with minor personnel changes till 1983.
In 1982, Klaus Voormann (ex-'Manfred Mann', ex-'Plastic Ono Band') and Hamburg scene veteran Ulf Krüger joined forces to produce the Neil Landon solo single 'One Of The Big Boys'. Neil's old 'Burnettes' / 'Fat Mattress' mate Jim Leverton acted in the accompanying video.
Neil Landon Albums 1975 Neil Landon 'Neil Landon' Nova / Teldec 6.22353 AS 1977 Neil Landon Band 'Rendezvous' Nova / Teldec 6.23011 AS 1978 Neil Landon Band (Live) 'Sold Out' Nova / Teldec 6.23477 AO 1984 Neil Landon 'Leben wie ein Maulwurf'Mercury 818 574 - Q 1998 Neil Landon 'The Best Of' Yes/No YNCD 19982 2000 Neil Landon 'Singt Musical Highlights'Neues Theater Special Edition London's Wave Studio was the venue in September 83 and January 84 for the soul album 'Leben wie ein Maulwurf' (live like a mole). Neil Landon sang standards by Otis Redding and Sam & Dave and his own compositions, which were given German lyrics by producer Ulf Krüger. The entire 'Shakin' Stevens Band' were involved in the recording.
Neil was by now no newcomer to German song texts, having rung the changes on his own activities by singing in Uli Salm's 'fun rock troupe' 'Rudolf Rock & die Schocker' since 1976 . This revival show, modelled on US band 'Shanana', took a sideways look at German rock'n'roll hits of the Fifties and Sixties and their often unintentional humour. The musicians in the troupe included a whole string of old campaigners from the Star Club days, among them Bernd Schulz and Dicky Tarrach of the 'Rattles'. The Schocker format brought out Neil's wit and redoubtable show talent to the full. The band went down very well with its audience, appeared on a series of television shows such as 'Musikladen' on Radio Bremen, and went on tour, including with Jerry Lee Lewis.
Rudolf Rock & die Schocker Albums with Neil Landon 1976 'Man müsste nochmal halbstark sein' Philips 6305 295 1977 'So wie ein Tiger' Philips 6305 328 1978 'Volle Pulle' Philips 6305 356 'Rock'n'Roll Revival Show' Star Club Records 9198 028 1980 'Alte Rock'n'Roller' Star Club Records 6435 054 'Rockin' Kangarooh' Vertigo 6360 643 (under the pseudonym 'Rudie') 1991 'Lederzwang' RCA PD 74 951 Summer 1986 was the backdrop to a very special kind of intermezzo: Neil Landon appeared as lead singer with the horror troupe of Hamburg's rock enfant terrible Klaus Gerlach (Dirty Dogs). Landon played the mad professor who has created the monster (Gerlach), setting it loose on the audience straight from its coffin. Shows at the 'Logo' and 'Grosse Freiheit 36' venues furrowed the brows of even hard-bitten local worthies. Gerlach's 'Undertakers' was the source of yet another 'Neil Landon Band', with Gerlach on guitar, but this time coffin-less. In the early Nineties, Neil appeared with the 'Neil Landon Five', which included his old friend and producer Ulf Krüger on drums and the guitarist extraordinaire Hardy Kayser.
1994 saw a 'Flowerpot Men' revival, and that brought a reunion with Tony Burrows. Landon and he had not seen each other for twenty years, but the old musical harmony was there at once. Then, in February 1996, Landon was discovered for the rock musical. As 'one of Europe's best singers' (John Carter) he was simply made for the role. Hamburg impresario Horst Kuska engaged Neil Landon for the part of George Money in his production of 'Yesterday', which was a spectacular success.
When Noel Redding appeared in Hamburg's 'Fabrik' in 1997, Neil Landon was up on stage with him. 'Fat Mattress songs' were on the programme.
Kuska put on his musical 'Let's Twist' in September 1998, again with Neil Landon in a starring role as Kenny King. 'Let's Twist' was even more successful than 'Yesterday' and ran for a year and a half till New Year's Eve 1999. Kuska followed it up with another smash, 'Jailhouse', and once again Neil Landon sang and played a leading role. When not on the stage of the 'Theater am Holstenwall' he was touring with hit shows. In the spring of 2001, Landon put on his solo show 'Musical Highlights', which was a huge hit with the audience. He is booked to appear in further musicals through to 2002.
Despite these commitments, Neil has still found time to appear with his own band again. His old travelling-companions Adrian Askew and Uli Salm form the backbone of the new 'Neil Landon Band', which gave its first guest performances in the summer of 2001Funny How Love Can Be / Lonely Room Piccadilly 7n 35222 GB 2 / 65 # 8 That's Why I'm Crying / A Girl Like You Piccadilly 7n 35228 GB 4 / 65 # 22 Tossin' And Turnin' / Graduation Day Piccadilly 7n 35251 GB 7 / 65 # 3 Willow Tree / One Day Piccadilly 7n 35326 GB 7 / 66 # 50 In September 1967 the single produced by Carter / Lewis under the artist name 'Flowerpot Men' and entitled 'Let's Go To San Francisco' / 'Let's Go To San Francisco Part 2' (Deram dm 142) made Number 4 in the UK charts. Because the song was recorded by studio musicians, there is no true group of this name. Carter / Lewis summarily 'rented out' the band name to ex-Ivy Leaguer Tony Burrows, who put together a tour ensemble to satisfy the popular demand generated by 'Let's Go To San Francisco'. Burrows was joined by three other singers: Peter Nelson, who could boast Star Club experience with the 'Travellers', Robin Shaw, and - Neil Landon. The backing band comprised drummer Carlo Little (ex-Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages), bassist Nick Simper (ex-Johnny Kidd & The Pirates) and keyboarder John Lord (ex-Artwoods). The 'Flowerpot Men' appeared almost daily, until Lord and Simper departed the band on February 24, 1968, to join 'Roundabout', the group from which 'Deep Purple' was to emerge in 1969.
Neil Landon spent the summer of 1968 with Jimi Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell and his old mate Noel Redding in Spain. Redding had made a career for himself and was now bassist in the immensely successful 'Jimi Hendrix Experience'.
All the same, he longed to be playing guitar again and realizing some of his own ideas. He began writing songs together with Landon. The other former 'Burnettes' were to join Neil as studio musicians on Noel's solo project. Pete Kircher, however, was not available; he was a member of the 'Honeybus' group, who had just chalked up a No. 8 hit with 'I Can't Let Maggie Go'. Luckily, Jim Leverton had progressed from studio jobs for the Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens and many others and landed himself a place in Engelbert Humperdinck's backing band, where he played alongside the young drummer Eric Dillon. Leverton and Dillon now joined their old friends. During sessions at the Olympic Studios they agreed to expand the project into a group: 'Fat Mattress'. The band toured the US as warm-up for the 'Jimi Hendrix Experience'; on their return to England, they found a lucrative record contract awaiting them. In the summer of '69, the group played the Isle of Wight Festival, where Bob Dylan headed the line-up of stars taking part.
The first 'Fat Mattress' album appeared in the autumn. Two numbers on the LP were written by Noel Redding, two more jointly with Neil Landon. He, in turn, had written one song on his own and three more with Jim Leverton. One of these three was released as a single: 'Magic Forest.'
'Fat Mattress' toured the US again in December 1969, this time as the headliners, but after five concerts of a planned 30, they broke off the tour and returned to England. A further album, on which Redding co-wrote only three songs, was released. This time, Neil Landon was involved as author on all tracks. Redding's replacements were keyboarder Mick Weaver and guitarist Steve Hammond. Having failed to find commercial success by the end of 1970, they decided to break up the band, though Noel Redding had returned and a third LP was already half 'in the can'.
Fat Mattress albums: 1969 UK 'Fat Mattress' Polydor 583056 US 'Fat Mattress' ATCO SD 33309 1970 UK 'Fat Mattress 2' Polydor 2383025 US 'Fat Mattress 2' ATCO SD 33-347 D 'Fat Mattress 2' Polydor 2383025 Eric Dillon went to 'Savoy Brown', Steve Hammond turned up with 'The Hill' again and Mick Weaver played for Keef Hartley and Frankie Miller. Jim Leverton went to 'Juicy Lucy' and 'Savoy Brown', played on various discs and toured with Steve Marriott until his death in 1991.
After 'Fat Mattress' split, Neil Landon stayed in the USA and wrote songs, none of which were released.
1972 saw him back in England, where he rehearsed for five months with the group 'Mainhorse Airline'. However, their only appearance was at a Crystal Palace benefit concert in London. Their management was looking after two groups: 'Mainhorse Airline' and 'Supertramp'; their decision to concentrate all their energy and capital on 'Supertramp' meant the end of the road for 'Mainhorse Airline'. Keyboarder Patrick Moraz later worked with 'Yes' and the 'Moody Blues'.
Neil Landon briefly turned his back on show business and ran his own farm. In 1974 he moved to Hamburg, the city his wife came from.
It wasn't long before he had found his place on the 'Hamburg scene'. After singing to acoustic guitar in small clubs, he was soon appearing on the stage of place-to-be 'Onkel Pö', accompanied by the cream of 'scene' musicians. 'Neil Landon & Friends' had arrived.
September 1975 was marked by the release of Landon's first German-recorded album, produced by ex-Rattle Achim Reichel. Studio musicians on the recording were Thiessy Thiers and Jochen Petersen from 'Randy Pie', with 'Augenweide' contributing Frank and Stefan Wulff and Olaf Casalich. The other participants were up on stage with Neil as 'Friends'. Uli Salm normally played with 'Leinemann' and Erich Doll with 'Truck Stop', Hermann Lammers-Meyer was from the 'Emsland Hillbillies' and drummer Curvin Merchant, later with 'Boney M.', was occasionally replaced by Teddy Ibing, also with 'Truck Stop'.
It was not long before the Hamburg 'in' venues 'Logo', 'Fabrik' and of course the legendary 'Onkel Pö' were sold out for Neil Landon's appearances. The 'Friends' were joined by former 'Atlantis' members Alex Conti (guitar) and Adrian Askew (keyboards). By the time the second album was recorded, the fixed line-up of the 'Neil Landon Band' had crystallized out of a fluctuating assortment of 'session musicians'. Alex Conti, now fulltime with 'Lake', was replaced by Bernd Gärtig on guitar, Adrian Askew was at the keyboards, and Uli Salm was on bass. The percussion was manned by Norbert 'Panzer' Lehmann from the Berlin group 'Karthago'. The 'Neil Landon Band' recorded one more LP under the direction of Achim Reichel and continued to play live with minor personnel changes till 1983.
In 1982, Klaus Voormann (ex-'Manfred Mann', ex-'Plastic Ono Band') and Hamburg scene veteran Ulf Krüger joined forces to produce the Neil Landon solo single 'One Of The Big Boys'. Neil's old 'Burnettes' / 'Fat Mattress' mate Jim Leverton acted in the accompanying video.
Neil Landon Albums 1975 Neil Landon 'Neil Landon' Nova / Teldec 6.22353 AS 1977 Neil Landon Band 'Rendezvous' Nova / Teldec 6.23011 AS 1978 Neil Landon Band (Live) 'Sold Out' Nova / Teldec 6.23477 AO 1984 Neil Landon 'Leben wie ein Maulwurf'Mercury 818 574 - Q 1998 Neil Landon 'The Best Of' Yes/No YNCD 19982 2000 Neil Landon 'Singt Musical Highlights'Neues Theater Special Edition London's Wave Studio was the venue in September 83 and January 84 for the soul album 'Leben wie ein Maulwurf' (live like a mole). Neil Landon sang standards by Otis Redding and Sam & Dave and his own compositions, which were given German lyrics by producer Ulf Krüger. The entire 'Shakin' Stevens Band' were involved in the recording.
Neil was by now no newcomer to German song texts, having rung the changes on his own activities by singing in Uli Salm's 'fun rock troupe' 'Rudolf Rock & die Schocker' since 1976 . This revival show, modelled on US band 'Shanana', took a sideways look at German rock'n'roll hits of the Fifties and Sixties and their often unintentional humour. The musicians in the troupe included a whole string of old campaigners from the Star Club days, among them Bernd Schulz and Dicky Tarrach of the 'Rattles'. The Schocker format brought out Neil's wit and redoubtable show talent to the full. The band went down very well with its audience, appeared on a series of television shows such as 'Musikladen' on Radio Bremen, and went on tour, including with Jerry Lee Lewis.
Rudolf Rock & die Schocker Albums with Neil Landon 1976 'Man müsste nochmal halbstark sein' Philips 6305 295 1977 'So wie ein Tiger' Philips 6305 328 1978 'Volle Pulle' Philips 6305 356 'Rock'n'Roll Revival Show' Star Club Records 9198 028 1980 'Alte Rock'n'Roller' Star Club Records 6435 054 'Rockin' Kangarooh' Vertigo 6360 643 (under the pseudonym 'Rudie') 1991 'Lederzwang' RCA PD 74 951 Summer 1986 was the backdrop to a very special kind of intermezzo: Neil Landon appeared as lead singer with the horror troupe of Hamburg's rock enfant terrible Klaus Gerlach (Dirty Dogs). Landon played the mad professor who has created the monster (Gerlach), setting it loose on the audience straight from its coffin. Shows at the 'Logo' and 'Grosse Freiheit 36' venues furrowed the brows of even hard-bitten local worthies. Gerlach's 'Undertakers' was the source of yet another 'Neil Landon Band', with Gerlach on guitar, but this time coffin-less. In the early Nineties, Neil appeared with the 'Neil Landon Five', which included his old friend and producer Ulf Krüger on drums and the guitarist extraordinaire Hardy Kayser.
1994 saw a 'Flowerpot Men' revival, and that brought a reunion with Tony Burrows. Landon and he had not seen each other for twenty years, but the old musical harmony was there at once. Then, in February 1996, Landon was discovered for the rock musical. As 'one of Europe's best singers' (John Carter) he was simply made for the role. Hamburg impresario Horst Kuska engaged Neil Landon for the part of George Money in his production of 'Yesterday', which was a spectacular success.
When Noel Redding appeared in Hamburg's 'Fabrik' in 1997, Neil Landon was up on stage with him. 'Fat Mattress songs' were on the programme.
Kuska put on his musical 'Let's Twist' in September 1998, again with Neil Landon in a starring role as Kenny King. 'Let's Twist' was even more successful than 'Yesterday' and ran for a year and a half till New Year's Eve 1999. Kuska followed it up with another smash, 'Jailhouse', and once again Neil Landon sang and played a leading role. When not on the stage of the 'Theater am Holstenwall' he was touring with hit shows. In the spring of 2001, Landon put on his solo show 'Musical Highlights', which was a huge hit with the audience. He is booked to appear in further musicals through to 2002.
Despite these commitments, Neil has still found time to appear with his own band again. His old travelling-companions Adrian Askew and Uli Salm form the backbone of the new 'Neil Landon Band', which gave its first guest performances in the summer of 2001